


Flying Like a Bird to You Now

by 2old4dis



Series: My emotional support Naruto AU plz don’t read unless u want to I guess [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gratuitous peace, I literally decided to write most of the bad, M/M, No Uchiha Massacre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26231782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2old4dis/pseuds/2old4dis
Summary: Itachi reflects on his life as he goes about a normal day. Everything is peaceful AU
Relationships: Hoshigaki Kisame/Uchiha Itachi
Series: My emotional support Naruto AU plz don’t read unless u want to I guess [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1905244
Kudos: 31





	Flying Like a Bird to You Now

**Author's Note:**

> My friend and I came up with this wholesome peaceful AU where it’s not sad at all and basically everyone is happy. Those that aren’t will definitely get the happy endings they deserve. All you need to know is that all the gross bad guys attacked Konoha but the Akatsuki and the rest of the ninja countries banded together to stop everything. Chuunins can’t fight on the battlefront so the kids don’t have battle PTSD. Also I messed with the ages a little. 
> 
> Itachi is 23 and Kisame is like 29?  
> Sasuke and company are 13ish  
> Kimimaro is 14

If someone were to ask Itachi five years ago if his dream post-war life included being a sensei to the rowdiest genin in Konoha, married to an S ranked criminal, and somehow the happiest man alive, he probably would have just killed them on the spot. But then again, who could have predicted Danzo and Orochimaru trying to take over Konoha with the help of Madara, and the Akatsuki, of all people, banded together with the five great ninja villages to defeat them, thusly rocketing all of society into an era of peace like never before. Honestly, the most traumatic thing to come out of all of that was having to come out as not only gay, but married as well, and then introducing Kisame to the rest of his family. If Itachi were the chuckling type he might have done so. As it were, he allowed himself a slight crinkling of eyes at the fond memory. His students were too busy learning how to dodge shuriken to notice it anyway.

The three blurs he was supposed to be supervising zoomed around, setting off traps and dashing away as quickly as their newly learned evasive maneuvers let them. It wasn't too long ago that they weren't capable of more than a clumsily executed tuck and roll. Here they were, dashing and using substitution jutsus. Soon they would be old enough to learn complex techniques and then after that was the Chuunin exams, which his brother would also soon be taking. Itachi felt his age in his bones and grimaced. The sounds of chaos faded away as three children in various states of distress emerged from the dense foliage.

"Itachi-sensei, please can we stooooop," Shou complained for the 45th time. Red eyes with swirling black dots scanned the scene, taking inventory of their injuries. Shou's cheek was still bleeding, but Hideo was flexing his injured arm, using a grubby hand to push equally dirty hair out of his face. All in all, not too bad. Maiko, relatively clean still somehow, wrinkled her nose at her grumbling team mates before skipping her way up to Itachi and tugging on his sleeve.

"Sensei are we done?" Her puppy eyes sparkled, begging. Itachi couldn't help but feel just the tiniest twang of cuteness in his heart.

"Yeah that's fine. I'll see you guys again tomorrow, 9 AM sharp!"

With one uniform "thank you, sensei" Itachi's work day came to an end and he sighed in relief. The day had been rather warm, with only a slight breeze, so he was probably almost as sweaty as his students. He checked his watch, deduced he had enough time before he was expected home to run a minor errand or two, and started walking out of the woods with an air of superiority that only a Uchiha could muster. Kisame was cooking dinner and his food was always worth being on time for.

Where the trees came to an abrupt end, there was a brick sidewalk that followed a cement drainage ditch that on warm days like this one, young shinobi could often be found practicing water walking. Kurenai stood there eyeballing her sopping wet trio and gestured a greeting at Itachi. Her cell just stared miserably from the muddy water. A llittle further down the street and then left was a decent supermarket that shared a lot with Yamanaka Flowers. Itachi gave a quick nod to Sakura, who paused her sweeping to quickly offer a wave back. Bells above the door chimed as Itachi pushed it open, the smell of approximately four thousand different types of flowers enveloping him, leaving him slightly congested and dry eyed. Ino was slumped over the desk reading the latest issue of Cosmopolitan, which she promptly shuffled under some spare floral clippings when she realized he had a customer. Not quick enough though. Itachi's heightened eyesight caught the title "7 Ways To Experiment For The Girl Curious" and that was definitely a tidbit of info to file away for later. 

"Can I help you?" Ino asked, politely, twirling her absurdly long hair.

"Is there any way I could get a quick bouquet? It's for my husband." Itachi shuffled his feet as Ino brightened up.

"Oh! Sure! Roses are always a classic, but, like, we got in this shipment of crocuses from up north and the colors are just to die for, like, for real. Look at this." Long blonde ponytail swishing behind her, Ino shuffled her way past Itachi to show him to a refrigerator filled with various wild flowers. She opened it up and started grabbing containers while explaining the meaning behind the crocuses and various other flowers at such a dizzying rapid rate that Itachi had to wonder if she was even breathing. Ino flounced back behind the counter and pulled out wrapping paper and ribbons, still rambling on, but apparently had moved on from the topic of flowers. "So, like, I told her that I couldn't let her borrow my top, because, I mean after last time? Do you blame me? I never even got those blood stains out! Anyway I told Sakura she had to help me with my chores to pay me back. Do you want me to put these into a bag for you or do you want to just carry them? Also that dango guy across the street you like is finally back from his vacation so if you go sneak some without Kisame-san, I won't tell on you or anything. That'll be 300 ryo, please."

There was a beat of silence before Itachi comprehended enough to pull out his wallet and pay. Something about the blonde teenager’s chatter really had him almost in a trance. Ino beamed at him, either completely unaware of his disinterest or just uncaring. She shoved a bundle of mostly blue and purple flowers with bright orange centers into his arms. "You have a good day, Itachi-san!" Still slightly dazed, he made his way out of the store and back onto the busy street.

He checked his watch again and grimaced. Ino's nonstop chatter (and admittedly a pit stop to the dango vendor) had killed more time than he expected so now he was running slightly late. With a sigh Itachi picked up the pace to a brisk jog, dodging and weaving through various civilians and ninja alike. After a few minutes, the yellow roof of his and Kisame's home caught his eye. The old wood front door gave a familiar squeak as it opened. Itachi kicked his shoes off before entering, eyes seeking out the familiar form of his partner before spotting him leaning against the marble kitchen countertop, reading a book while , unexpectedly, Sasuke stirring a pot of rice and seafood with the other. Kisame glanced up, teeth flashing as he grinned. Sasuke didn’t even look up. No surprise there. 

"Hey sorry I'm late. I was grabbing you these." Itachi presented the bouquet as he leaned up for a quick peck. 

Kisame kissed him and laughed. 'Flowers? That's super gay, Itachi." He bopped Itachi's nose with the bouquet before turning and pulling out a misshapen vase one of his students made. Sasuke made a gagging sound and Itachi pulled away to flick him in the ear. 

"You seem to be in a good mood. That paella smells great by the way. How was your day?"

Kisame hummed before pushing a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking straight up. "It was fine. In class we covered some basic genjutsu, which is cool I guess. Not quite my style but teaching them was easy enough.”

“It should have been Itachi teaching them. Your genjutsu is atrocious,” Sasuke mumbled.

“Watch it, brat.” With a laugh, the taller man ladled paella into a bowl before handing a bowl to Sasuke and Itachi each. Like a feral animal Sasuke snatched the bowl before remembering his manners and grunting a quick thanks. Itachi accepted his with grace, padding away with it to the set dining table, Kisame trailing closely behind. “Yeah well itachi’s got a squad. Maybe one day they’ll trust me enough to teach Konoha’s finest, but for now I get-“ he waved his spoon in a wide arc above his head “- orphans. And the orphans get whatever knowledge I have. Which isn’t much genjutsu.”

“Orphans aren’t bad. At least you’ve got the ones from Kiri.” Itachi took a graceful bite. The paella was delicious and creamy and exactly what he craved today at training. From his left he could hear Sasuke making vague sounds of gratification, so he must also have liked it. As it was he didn’t complain, which was usually a good sign. Teenagers. 

“I mean, I guess? They’re kids who got taken way too young and they were basically never in the village itself. Kimimaro lived outside of it, basically in a closet.” 

Kimimaro. Itachi’s dark, grey eyes shifted towards the blue man happily munching away at a prawn he’d pulled out of his own bowl of dinner. He’d met the pale, white haired boy once, dropping off lunch to his husband. Like himself, Kimimaro was introverted and quiet, even a little shy. Kisame would never admit to it, but that boy was easily his favorite of his students, often mentioned in either dinner conversations or brought up when they both were in bed but neither were asleep. Sometimes both.

“How is he doing anyway?” Itachi pried before taking another bite. Kisame shrugged his broad shoulders. “He seems like he’s doing better.”

“Yeah, but let’s get real here, anything would be better. I don’t know, I just wish…” The shark man played with his cup a little, nervously biting at the inside of his lip. Itachi raised his eyes from the cup to meet Kisame’s weird white ones. The cup made a scraping sound against the table as he rolled it around in his massive hand. “I just wish he had a home, is all. The halfway house is fine but he’s not thriving and it would just be nice for that boy to experience stability.”

They chewed in silence for several minutes before Sasuke spoke up. 

“You should just adopt him.” Both white and grey eyes, wide with astonishment, glanced over at Sasuke nonchalantly scraping his bowl clean. 

Kisame cleared his throat. “What?”

“Just adopt him. A lot of people have done it. Even Naruto’s mom and dad took in his cousin, Karin.” The teen boy stood up and gathered the empty plates. “Besides it would be kind of cool. He’s around my age and and guys are fine and all, but you always talk about boring grown up stuff. Anyway, thanks for dinner, I should probably head out.”

Probably to get out of dishes. Itachi sighed and stood as well. His relationship with his parents was tense still, despite the years they had to get over Kisame’s presence. The problem wasn’t necessarily that he was another man, but the fact that he was definitely still a criminal at the time of their elopement. And also the fact that they’d eloped. Mikoto wailed like Itachi was pronounced dead when she found out, according to Sasuke. It was a very uncomfortable Thanksgiving that year. 

After gathering his things, Sasuke left without any goodbyes as usual, leaving Itachi with the dishes, as predicted. Kisame offered to help but he was dismissed to the shower with a wave. Knowing Kisame, he’d be in there for a while. The leftover paella got put away into the fridge and the clean dishes were left on the rack to dry. He could put them away tomorrow. Before leaving, Itachi surveyed the kitchen to see if there was anything else he had to do. A new drawing on the well decorated refrigerator caught is eye, brand new amongst the well loved drawings and pictures. He leaned in for a closer look. It was an absolutely stunning drawing of flowers done on line paper with a blue ink pen. Probably one of Kisame’s students. Most of the art was. Next to it was the picture of Itachi on a beach, taken on one of their vacations, and next to that one was an absolutely hideous drawing of Kisame, done by Sasuke’s loud best friend. 

The sound of the pipes shutting off signified Kisame’s shower was ending, so Itachi quickly wandered towards the bedroom. Laying on top of the bedsheets was a very wet Kisame, wearing only a pair of green boxer briefs. He wiggled his eyebrows, obnoxiously. Itachi couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Don’t even try it. I am so sweaty from sitting out in the sun today that if I don’t clean myself off, I’ll rot.” He danced out of the way of Kisame’s wet towel, flung with deadly accuracy, before removing his standard issue jounin wear and getting into the shower. There was no point in locking the door behind him. If Kisame wanted in he could very easily do it. A small part of Itachi hoped he would, but the larger part knew that he was probably under the covers, most likely skimming his readings.They were mandatory for him to work with young Shinobi. He rinsed his hair and toweled off before pulling on a pair of underwear and exiting in a cloud of steam. Just as predicted Kisame was under the downturned covers, papers in hand. 

“Anything new?” 

“Yeah. I’m not allowed to terrorize civilians, according to Doctor Jiro. It doesn’t facilitate harmony.” Kisame set the documents down on his nightstand before switching off the lamp. The low amount of moonlight streaming in through the window glinted off of his eyes, like a nocturnal predator. He rolled to face Itachi, who was snuggling into the blankets, before continuing.

“I was thinking about what Sasuke said. About Kimimaro.”

Itachi stilled and shifted to come face to face with his husband. “He’s right you know.” 

“Yeah right. As if Konoha is going to let some most wanted criminal adopt a poor abused child.” 

“No, but they might let an esteemed member of the Uchiha clan. Not to mention I am an esteemed Shinobi with a squad of my own. Besides you said it yourself when we bought it. The house is too big for just us two.” 

Kisame lay quietly before speaking again. “I’ve thought about it before. Just wasn’t sure how to go about convincing anyone to let me do it.” 

“You mean me?” Itachi asked. 

“No. Well? Kind of? I just figured you’d want an actual kid. This kid is older than your brother.” 

“By not even a year! Besides-“

“Plus he’s fucked up.” Kisame interrupted “He’s a good kid but Orochimaru did a real number on him. He’s got some weird lung disease on top of whatever mental scars he’s got from years of abuse.” 

Itachi huffed. “So? So are we. It’s the way things are. I’m sick too and it doesn’t slow me down. I think you’re just scared and trying to talk yourself out of it.”

“Maybe,” said Kisame, quietly. 

“Probably,” Itachi whispered back at him before poking him on the tip of the nose. “I can ask Tsunade-sama about it tomorrow when I go pick up missions, if you’d like.”

Kisame’s luminous eyes blinked owlishly before he closed them. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” 

“Alright then. Tomorrow.”

Kisame didn’t reply, but it took several minutes before his breathing slowed. Itachi stared up at the ceiling, giddy with delight. Even if Kimimaro ended up not working out, which, honestly, he doubted they would be denied custody of Kimimaro. That kid adored Kisame. But if he wasn’t the one, they would be on the right path. 

The war changed many things about Konoha, the most significant being the new open gate policy. Now citizens of all nations were free to immigrate and emigrate, pretty much at their leisure. With them came their teachings and jutsu. Although many of the elderly argued that parts of it were for the worst (mostly blaming it on having a woman in charge), Itachi couldn’t help but disagree. Before the war, his current life wouldn’t even have been possible. The citizenship hearings and parole meetings had been awful, not to mention fighting for the legality of his marriage, but once that was over, Kisame’s assimilation into Konoha’s citizens was actually pretty seamless. Once the Shinobi realized he was going to stay despite their best efforts, they quit harassing him. Now they even asked him to spar. 

As Kisame gently snored next to him, Itachi couldn’t help but allow himself to smile up at the ceiling. Tomorrow he would probably start yet another arduous court adventure, but before that he needed a good night’s worth of sleep. He snuggled into Kisame and closed his eyes

**Author's Note:**

> If you’ve read this far, thanks for reading this omg? 
> 
> This was meant to be a one shot intro to this whole AU that as long as I’m bored I’ll probably keep writing? I’ve already started on the prequel piece that takes place during the war. So hopefully that comes out soon? 
> 
> I tried proofreading this but if I missed any errors please let me know, thanks!


End file.
